Man To Man
by Kyatto no Edo
Summary: Set right after The Boiling Rock. Sokka and Zuko decide to go on a fishing trip to bond like the manly men they are.


**Man To Man**

_By Kyatto_

-;-

Things had settled down considerably since their journey to the Boiling Rock prison. Sokka and Zuko had connected to the point where they considered themselves to now be friends, rather than mere acquaintances or former enemies. Katara was still showing a great deal of animosity towards Zuko, but Sokka and Aang were confident that she would turn around in due time- she was just a bit paranoid and stubborn. After a few days of growing used to the new living arrangements (there were now three more mouths feed and bodies to bed), both the teen boys were growing restless. Then it dawned on them; they never did go on that fishing trip. This would have to be resolved immediately.

Bright and early one morning, Sokka and Zuko packed up their gear and ventured out into the forest. Sokka had proven himself to be somewhat of a master tracker and reported finding a river nearby. Having not been near the temple in years, Zuko was in no position to argue. They trudged through the dense foliage until the sound of flowing water was clearly audible. Sure enough, they found the river, and it definitely appeared to be full of life. They were going to eat like kings tonight! As quickly yet quietly as possible, so as to not disturb the fish, they set up camp and settled on two large rocks closest to the water with their fishing poles.

"So Zuko," Sokka decided to be the first to start their conversation that day. "You and Mai, huh?"

"Yeah?" Zuko arched a brow. "What about it?"

"I thought you were kidding," Sokka shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, she's pretty hot. But I wouldn't think a girl like that would go for you."

"What do you mean?" Zuko glowered.

"Come _on,_ Zuko! We all know you suck with the whole people skills thing. And she definitely doesn't look like the type to be wooed by flashy displays of bending. There's very little you can do to attract the hot ones, I'm sorry to say."

"I knew her when I was a kid," the prince rolled his eyes. "So she doesn't have to care about what I lack now. She likes me anyway."

"That poor, poor woman," Sokka deadpanned.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you were with us a few weeks ago," Zuko raised a brow and smirked.

"What were you doi- Oh…_Oh!_" Sokka exclaimed then quickly shifted to calm himself down and not scare away any more potential catches. "Liar. I refuse to believe you would ever try that kind of thing. You're not the type, what with all that "honor" business."

"What does my honor have to do with what my girlfriend and I do together?" Zuko chuckled and flashed a smile at his friend. "And for your information, she was quite thrilled."

"Now I _know _you're lying. Nothing ever fazes that woman!"

"That sure as hell did."

"This just means now that I have Suki here we're going to work harder to one up you. The Fire Nation will always be one step below the Water Tribe. Always." Sokka looked rather pleased with himself for coming up with this plan.

"Have you two done anything past kissing yet?" Zuko queried.

"Well…" Sokka shifted his gaze. "No. We haven't. But it's only a matter of time, man. _Trust me_. Suki's crazy about me. She'll be up for anything."

"Good luck getting any around here," Zuko scoffed. "Someone would catch you."

"True," Sokka nodded in agreement. "But we won't be here for too long, I don't think. Next spot I'll definitely make space for it. Suki had better be prepared for what I've got in store for her."

"And if she's not I'll be able to tell because you'll be screaming and begging for someone to save you."

"Don't compare me and Suki to what Mai probably put you through."

"I'm not projecting!"

"Sure you're not…" Sokka grinned.

"I'm not!"

"So…." Sokka decided that would be a good spot for a conversation switch. "You know about Suki and Yue. You're older than us. I'm sure you've had your share of the ladies other than Mai…even with that ugly mug you call a face."

"You forget I've been traveling around hunting Aang for an obnoxious number of years."

"All the more reason why you probably had a lot of ladies. Plenty of opportunities for you to snag some. I remember seeing you with June. How far you get?"

"Uncle was interested in her. Not me. I was a bit, uh, preoccupied…"

"You had someone _that_ hot around and didn't try _anything_? What kind of man are you?" Sokka looked appalled.

"I was busy, okay?" Zuko rolled his eyes and shifted slightly in his seat. "I didn't have much time to think about "the ladies"."

"I will not accept the fact you didn't have any girls other than Mai. Spill it. I will stop at nothing to get it out of you, you know."

"Alright, fine!" Zuko sighed and rubbed his temple with one hand. "While I was in Ba Sing Se, I met this one girl named Jin."

"Describe her. Just so I get a good mental image."

"About as tall as your sister. Big eyes, round face. Not too fat, not too thin. Definitely had cute hair. Uh…Oh! She had the biggest…I'd probably ever seen in my life."

"…Huh?"

"You know," Zuko illustrated with a few gestures of his hand. "Nice uh…"tracks of land" or whatever they call them."

"You serious? Man, that's awesome!" Sokka looked downright gleeful for his friend. "Was she into you? How far did you get? I bet she was pretty wild, huh?"

"I went on a date with her. Wooed her with my bending a little," Zuko bragged and made some sort of suave motion with his arm that started from his shoulder and ended with a flick of the wrist.

"Yeah? And then what? You take her back to your place? Show her just how hot the Prince of the Fire Nation really is?" Sokka grinned excitedly, momentarily forgetting that the girl probably had no idea who Zuko was, given that he was a fugitive at the time. But of course any success with the ladies made by a friend was also a success of his. One day he would be able to regard Aang in such a way, but for now it was just Zuko.

"She kissed me…I kissed her…"

"And…? Then…?"

"I went home."

"With her I presume?"

"No," Zuko shook his head. "I just went home."

"_What?_"

"Huh?"

"You _went home? Without her?_ Zuko!"

"What? What was I supposed to do?" Zuko appeared nervous, feeling as though he'd done something somehow to offend Sokka.

"You do not go out with a girl that hot and just run off! That breaks every single Manly Code I know of! You're an embarrassment to men everywhere, probably all of humanity!"

"…I'm sorry?"

"That's it. I will no longer associate myself with someone that lame. Get out of Team Avatar right now." Sokka said in a deadpan, glaring teasingly at Zuko.

"Wait? What!" Zuko exclaimed, dropping his fishing pole.

"You are such a loser!" Sokka laughed and shoved at Zuko so hard he fell into the water.

"Hey!" Zuko sputtered trying to sit back up and splashing around in the process. "What'd you do that for?"

"That's for the blue balls you gave me in anticipation for the nonexistent climax of your story!"

"Hey…!" Suddenly, Zuko looked to the water distractedly. "Oh…Um…I got a fish!" He held up a squirming fish he pulled out from underneath him.

"Score!"

-;-

**End**


End file.
